OREANDA-NEWS. April 5, 2011. For a long time, the number one company in Brazilian industry, Vale (formerly Companhia Vale do Rio Doce) did not concern itself overly with social and environmental responsibility issues. Privatized in 1997, Vale went through a green revolution around ten years later, while expanding internationally, culminating in the acquisition of Canadian company Inco and becoming the world's second largest mining group. Vale now produces iron ore, nickel and copper, but it has also decided to protect tens of thousands of hectares of tropical forest in Brazil and Indonesia, it produces biofuels in the Amazon and it is helping to preserve the Kanak languages in the south of New Caledonia.

Limiting negative impacts

"The question of sustainable development is strategic to the company's future, not so much from a philanthropic point of view and the traditional vision of social responsibility, but due to changes in society and problems associated with the environment and regulation," says Katsuo Homma, who is responsible for sustainable development at the company. The mining giant even claims it is "transforming itself into a catalyst for local development." Aware that at some point mineral resources may run out, Homma says the company wants to promote replacement activity in the local economy. "We try to limit negative impacts - we know they exist - and leave a positive legacy for mining operations, both socially and environmentally."

In the field, Vale has increased its green investment five-fold in five years. In 2011, the Brazilian multinational planned to spend nearly 1.2 billion dollars in this area - 886 million dollars on environment initiatives and 308 million dollars on social projects.

Less diesel, lower water consumption, less deforestation - above all, the objective is to limit the impact of operations. In the important mining province of Carajas, which accounts for more than one third of the company's iron ore output, teams have developed a technique to sift iron ore using moisture contained inside the rock, without the need for additional water. Vale is studying whether it can apply this process at its large mining project in Guinea (Simandou). The company claims it now reuses three quarters of the water it consumes.

Another example is Vale's installation of many kilometers of conveyor belts at iron mines to replace enormous trucks used to transport ore within the mines. Vale estimates that the "truckless" system, already in place at certain coal mines, will cut diesel consumption by 77% at its large S11D mine.

In addition to its core mining activities, Vale is also investing in energy generation and logistics. It even has a vast railroad network in Brazil, where it is also aiming to cut its diesel consumption by developing the use of biodiesel produced from palm oil. In January, Vale invested more than 150 million dollars to acquire 70% of Biopalma, a company that produces biodiesel in the Amazon. The objective is to raise the proportion of biofuel mixed with diesel from 5% to 20%. "This project will allow us to cut our CO2-equivalent emissions by almost 12 million tons over the course of 25 years," estimates Katsuo Homma. This project is expected to involve 2,000 small farmers in the region. In addition, 60,000 hectares of degraded forest is set to be reforested.